Admirals Codrington, de Rigny, and de Heyten agreed to enter the Bay to insure the Ottoman Fleet did not sail. The instructions Codrington issued to the combined fleet prohibited Allied ships from firing first but if fired upon they were to return fire.

The plan for entry into the bay called for two Allied columns to sail into the bay and anchor adjacent to the Turkish/Egyptian/Tunisian major units. The first column on the bay's starboard side, was to be led by the three British Ships of the Line headed by the Codrington's 84 gun flagship, Asia. These ships were move into the heart of the Sultan's crescent formation. After the British, the three French capital ships would follow Admiral de Rigny's 60 gun frigate, Sirene. The French ships were to observe the actions of the Egyptian squadron.

The Russian squadron would make up the second column on the bay's port side. Admiral de Heyten's 74 gun flagship, Azov, proceeded the three other Russian 74 gun ships and their four 44 gun frigates. They were to watch the port end of the crescent formation The British frigates, Camelon, Cambrian, and Glasgow and the French frigate Armide were to deal with the Muslim fireships near Sphakthera Island and the shore batteries on Sphakthera Island.

The other British and French smaller warships were under the general direction of the British 44 gun frigate Dartmouth. They were to deal with the Muslim fires-ships near Navarino itself.

As the Allied squadrons took up their positions, there was activity aboard one of the fireships on the southern side of the Bay. When the Dartmouth sent a small boat to investigate, it received small arms fire. An British officer and a number of British seamen were killed by this fire. In retaliation at 2:25pm, HMS Dartmouth's marines open fired on the fireship. A supporting Turkish corvette fired on Dartmouth and the French flagship Sirene. When Admiral de Rigny attempted to ascertain what was the Egyptian Squadron's intention from its Flagship, the 60 gun frigate Ibsania. The Ibsania open fire on the French flagship. From that point, the firing become general with the Turkish shore batteries joining in.

The battle deteriorated into a series of small-scale actions. Generally, the battle developed into four areas. First, the French heavy units engaged the Egyptian squadron and Navarino's shore batteries and Citadel. Second, the British Ships of the Line fought the center of the Ottoman's formation. Thirdly, the Russian Ships of the Line and frigates attacked the western portion of the Muslim line. The fourth area was the general actions of the British and French smaller frigates. These spend much of their time defending their larger cousin from fireships.

The French/Eastern battle had two distinct parts: The first part started when the Sirene returned Ibsania's fire. At this point, the rest of the French squadron was out of support range of their flagship since the Scipion , the next ship in line, had shorten sail too soon.

The Sirene was battered by most of the Egyptian Squadron, but by 4:00PM, it managed to blow up the Egyptian flagship, Ibsania. Unfortunately for the Scipion, its error had put it in a position as dangerous as the Sirene's situation. The Scipion was surrounded by the Egyptian frigates not engaging the Sirene, attacked by shore batteries and subject to a fireship attack.

Battle Map: (Position after the (1600 hrs - 4:00PM) [81K]

The attacking Egyptian ships were destroyed and shore battery fire countered with the help of the remaining French Ships of the Line, Trident and Breslau. The fireship attack was averted by the combined efforts of small boats from Trident, the towropes of the Dartmouth, Rose and Philomel and the gunfire of the French schooners, Aleyene and Daphne.

With the Scipion's difficulties overcome and the joining of the French Ships of the Line with Sirene, the second part of the Eastern portion of the battle commenced. With the Egyptian naval presence effectively eliminated by 4:00PM, de Rigny decided to knock out the Navarino's shore batteries and citadel. For the rest of the battle, de Rigny bombarded and silenced the Ottoman cannon on the eastern shore.

However, he did this with At the same time, Captain de la Bretonniere of the Breslau(the last ship in the French Battle Line) noticed a huge gap in the Allied line between the heads of the British and Russian column. Noting, that a heavy frigate plus two ships of the line should be able to deal with the Turkish gun positions, de la Bretonniere on his own decide to leave the French battle line and plug the gap between the Russian Flag, Azov and the British lead ship of the line, Albion with the Breslau.

The intervention of the Breslau was critically successful. She sank or assisted in sinking one Turkish 74 gun Ship of the Line and four Frigates. In a battle that was primarily a slogging match, Captain de la Bretonniere's action was the only tactically outstanding action of the engagement.

This brings us to the British/Center portion of the battle: Here, a static battle of carronading developed. The British Ships of the Line anchored within pistol shot of the Turkish ships who were also anchored. For hours, they exchanged broadside after broadside until various Muslim warships were destroyed or driven ashore. The only movement on the British part was swing their broadsides to bear on different enemy ships. The one offensive movement by the Turks was a clumsy attempt to maneuver two of their ships of the line. This fiasco resulted in a collision between these ships.

The British deployment which put them in the middle of the Ottoman fleet was not without its flaws: The Genoa anchored at the wrong angle to effectively support the Codrington's flagship, Asia. The Albion was deployed too far into the Turkish line. As a result, she become the center of attention of the three Turkish ships of the line.

She probably would have been lost had it not been for the timely arrival of the Breslau and the ineptitude of the Turkish navy. As it was, she lost 26 dead.

There was confusion as well as incompetance in the Sultan's fleet: elements of the Muslim fleet were reluctant to join battle. For an example, after the initial shots in the French sector, the Turkish 60 gun flagship of Capetana Bey immediately opened fire on the Asia.

But the Egyptian flagship of Mohareen Bey, the 60 gun Warrior, did not open until after the Turkish Flagship had been destroyed. In this sector, there was probably the heaviest engagements. The Asia at one time was attacked by 1 Turkish 74 gun ship of the Line, and two 60 gun frigates. The Genoa found itself temporarily in combat with a 60 gun frigate and the two 74 gun Turkish ships of the line.

In the Russian/western sector, Admiral de Heyden ships also anchored and started to exchange broadsides with any Muslim ship that care to open fire. In this sector, the Russian had a number of advantages that their British and French co-belligerents did not enjoy: first, all the Russian ships were functioning as a single entity. Second, except for the Russian Flagship, the Russian faced the smaller ships of the Sultan's Fleet. Third, the Russian van and rear were supported by Allied ships. The van by the Breslau and the rear by the mixed force of British and French frigates. Fourth, the Tunisian Squadron facing the Russian was reluctant to engage. As a result, de Heyden's flagship, Azov, was the only Russian ship to be heavily engaged.; unfortunately the attention the Turks gave to it made up for the inattention the rest of the Russian squadron was getting.

It battled and sank 2 frigates, a corvette, 2 60 gun frigates (one of which was Tahir Pasha's flagship). The penalty paid for such heroics was 24 dead and 67 wounded, the single highest casualty rate for any Allied ship.

The fighting lasted until 6:00pm when Codrington ordered cease fire. At this time, most of the Turkish/Egyptian Fleet was sunk or burning(many by their own crews.) Although many of the Allied ships of the line were badly damaged, none were out of action. When morning came, the Muslim fleet of 60 sail had be reduced to 1 frigate and 15 lesser ships.

Casualties for the Sultan's force were estimated by Codrington at 6000 dead and 4000 wounded. The Cost to the Allies was much less. The British suffered 75 killed and 197 wounded. The French had 40 dead and 141 wounded. The Russian listed 59 dead and 137 wounded.

Aftermath:

On October 25, the Allied squadrons withdrew for repairs. The French except the Trident sailed for Toulon. The British and Russians went to Malta. In December, the remnants of the Turkish and Egyptian navies sailed for Constantinople and Alexandria, respectively.

Unfortunately, although the battle of Navarino Bay was as decisive a naval victory that can be achieved, it brought no direct solution to the Greek problem. Ibrahim Pasha, even without his fleet, continued to brutally suppress the Greek revolt. The Greeks for their part, continued to commit acts of piracy against neutral vessels.

The British government did not want to further weaken the Ottoman Empire; they apologized to the Sultan and recalled Codrington to explain his actions.

But in one sense, it did contribute to the eventual establishing of the Greek State; European interest refocused upon it. In 1828, the French government sent a French Expeditionary Force to Greece to compel the evacuation of Ibrahim Pasha's Egyptian army. It did so bloodlessly. In the same year, Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire citing the Treaty of London as justification.

Without the effective Egyptian army, the Sultan agreed to the Treaty of Adrianople which left the fate of Greece in the hands of the three signatories of the Treaty of London. In 1830, the Protocol of London created the Kingdom of Greece which was guaranteed by Britain, France and Russia.

-Finis-

More Battle of Navarino 1827

Navarino 1827: Introduction
Navarino 1827: The Battle
Navarino 1827: Map (Position after 1600 hrs) [81K]